The Internet is a global system of interconnected computers and computer networks that use a standard Internet protocol suite (e.g., the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP)) to communicate with each other. The Internet of Things (IoT) is based on the idea that everyday objects, not just computers and computer networks, can be readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable, and controllable via an IoT communications network (e.g., an ad-hoc system or the Internet). A number of market trends are driving development of IoT devices. For example, increasing energy costs are driving governments' strategic investments in smart grids and support for future consumption, such as for electric vehicles and public charging stations. Increasing health care costs and aging populations are driving development for remote/connected health care and fitness services. A technological revolution in the home is driving development for new “smart” services, including consolidation by service providers marketing ‘N’ play (e.g., data, voice, video, security, energy management, etc.) and expanding home networks. Buildings are getting smarter and more convenient as a means to reduce operational costs for enterprise facilities.
There are a number of key applications for the IoT. For example, in the area of home and building automation, smart homes and buildings can have centralized control over virtually any device or system in the home or office. In the field of asset tracking, enterprises and large organizations can accurately track the locations of high-value equipment. Accordingly, increasing development in IoT technologies will lead to numerous IoT devices surrounding a user at home, in vehicles, at work, and many other locations and personal spaces. However, when a user loses or otherwise misplaces a particular device or other physical object (e.g., a smartphone), conventional approaches to locate objects typically employ radio frequency (RF) signals, global positioning system (GPS) schemes, triangulation schemes, or other schemes. Among other disadvantages, these conventional approaches may consume substantial power and thereby interfere with the ability to locate lost or otherwise misplaced objects due to the possibility that resources (e.g., battery power) will be drained before the misplaced objects can be found. Moreover, conventional schemes may lack the ability to locate lost or otherwise misplaced objects in certain environments (e.g., indoor locations where a misplaced device cannot sufficiently receive signals that originate from GPS satellites). Furthermore, conventional localization schemes may pose security risks in the event that a malicious user somehow obtains permission to seek a lost device or disables software that enables the actual owner to locate a lost device. For example, certain smartphones have known software vulnerabilities that can be exploited to enable an airplane mode and thereby sever network connectivity that device recovery services may require to locate a lost device whether or not the lost device has password protection to prevent unauthorized users from bypassing a lock screen.